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THE ROSES OF 
SAINT ELIZABETH 


WORKS OF 

JANE SCOTT WOODRUFF 

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The Little Christmas 
Shoe .... $ .50 
The Roses of Saint 
Elizabeth . . . 1.00 

L. C. PAGE (& COMPANY 
New England Building 
Boston, Mass. 
























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So trustful of their little mistress 


99 


( See page 33) 




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BY 

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Author of 

“ The Little Christmas Shoe,** etc. 

ILLUSTRATED IW COLOURS BY 

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LIBRARY of OONQRESSj 
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COLONIAL PRESS 

Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds &■= Co. 
Boston , U. S. A. 


TO 

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ So trustful of their little mis- 
tress ” (See page jj) Frontispiece • i 

u It was the Ivy which had 

spoken ” . . . .29 

u The breath of roses all about 

her ” . . .68/ 

u She beheld ... a wretched 

beggar, shivering with cold” 75 / jfe 


u Long they sat there by the 
Rose-bush ” 


146 


\ 





THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 



I. 

t ROM a hill which over- 
looks the smiling little 
town of Eisenach, frowns 
the grim old castle of the 
Wartburg. It is a gloomy-looking 
place, with its vast chambers, and 
long, winding corridors of stone ; 
and yet, that it has held at least 
one bit of brightness, all would 
agree who had ever seen the smile 
of Katrina, the caretaker’s little 
daughter. 

It was Katrina’s chief delight to 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


stand at her father’s side when he 
unlocked the huge iron portals, 
and admitted visitors into the castle 
court; while not a few of these 
would stop and say some pleasant 
word to the child, or else stroke 
her golden hair in passing. 

To many persons the life of this 
nine-year-old girl might perhaps 
seem very dull ; but in Katrina’s 
happy nature was the spirit of con- 
tentment. However, she had one 
keen desire, — it was to see inside 
the ancient castle. And some- 
times, when there were visitors 
going in, she would beg her father 
to take her with him, but he 
always shook his head, saying: 

“ No, my child, the chill air of 
the Wartburg is not for such a 
tender plant as thou.” 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


So she would wait outside, she 
and the sunbeams together, until 
her father’s rounds were finished. 

It was a simple, wholesome life 
that Katrina led, even though it 
was within the walls of one of the 
most noted of all the ancient 
castles. Her parents, good, honest 
folk, were poor, and realized that 
their child would have to face the 
sterner side of life. She was, they 
said, already too dreamful and 
imaginative, so they taught her to 
be practical, and, as far as possible, 
hid the romance of the castle from 
her view. 

But by degrees much that was 
weird, as well as romantic, began 
to weave itself about the child’s 
more practical existence like bright 
threads woven into gray. And 
3 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


little by little, through a means 
singularly strange, she came to be 
familiar with many of the legends 
and historic tales relating to this 
old Thuringian fortress. 

Now, living, as she did, far up 
on this lonely hilltop, Katrina had 
few companions. But there was 
one who had been her playmate 
always, and that was Fritz Al- 
brecht, of Eisenach, the toy- 
maker’s son. 

Fritz, to be sure, was five years 
older than Katrina, but this only 
served to make the lad feel re- 
sponsible as her protector. When 
a very little boy, his mother had 
read to him tales of knighthood 
and valour; and now, even though 
the mother he had loved so dearly 
had been taken from him, the 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


seeds of chivalry she had sown in 
his heart promised to be fruitful. 

It was a quaint little house in 
which Fritz and his father lived, 
and where the latter had his work- 
shop. But quainter still was the 
house that faced them across the 
narrow street paved with cobble- 
stones, and on which Fritz was 
accustomed to look daily. 

From his frequent visits to it, 
the boy knew every room in this 
old house with its queer gables and 
red -tiled roof. But never would 
he forget the day, not long before 
she died, when his mother had 
taken him into a certain small 
room over the entrance, and, hold- 
ing his chubby hand in hers, had 
said, in her gentle fashion : 

“ My little Fritz, thou art in the 
5 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH j 


room which sheltered the great 
Martin Luther when he was a lad 
scarcely older than thyself. Pon- 
der well what I am telling thee, 
and when thou art older thou must 
learn about the splendid work that 
Luther did. And there,” the 
mother added, as she pointed to 
the portrait of a sweet-faced 
woman, “is the good Widow Cotta. 
It was she who heard little Martin 
Luther singing in the streets, and, 
out of the goodness of her mother- 
heart, for she had children of her 
own, took him in and gave him a 
home here with her own family.” 

That was all his mother had 
told him about Martin Luther, but 
it aroused in Fritz a desire to 
know more about the boy who 
had earned the money to go to 
6 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


school by singing carols in these 
same streets where he, Fritz, walked 
every day. 

For many months, as he passed 
some of the more ancient-looking 
houses, Fritz would often stop and 
gaze up at the windows with their 
tiny panes, saying, as he did so : 

“ I wonder if the people who 
lived here long ago heard him 
singing, and if they threw money 
to him out of these same win- 
dows.” 

Very often he had talked about 
it to Katrina, and she never tired 
of listening. 

“ Some day I’ll take thee there, 
Katrina, indeed I will, and show 
thee the very bed little Martin 
Luther slept in.” 

“Yes,” was Katrina’s answer, 
7 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


eagerness shining in her big blue 
eyes. “ I want to go and see it 
all, and,” she added; thoughtfully, 
“ when I’m grown to be a woman 
like my own, dear mutterchen. I’m 
going to give money to every 
little boy I can. It might help 
them to be great, too, some day. 
The people who gave little Martin 
Luther money didn’t know what 
a great man he was going to be. 
But,” she added, after a moment’s 
pause, “ maybe it was the home the 
good Frau Cotta gave him more 
than the money that helped to 
make him great.” 

The two children, as they talked 
together, were seated on a bench 
in the castle courtyard. It was a 
beautiful summer evening, and 
Fritz had begged Katrina to come 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


outside and see the splendid col- 
ours of the sunset : for this boy of 
fourteen years was even then an 
artist in his heart. 

For a long while they had been 
sitting there, their faces toward the 
western sky, when suddenly both 
gave a start, while into Katrina’s 
eyes came a look of wonder. But 
Fritz laid a calming hand on hers. 

“It’s the voice, Katrina, the 
same voice we heard that other 
evening! Have no fear; dost thou 
not remember what it told us ? ” 


9 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 



II. 


AT RINA did remember 
what the voice had said. 
She recalled the grand, 
majestic tones in which it 
had spoken of the Wartburg. 

“ How little can you children 
realize, as you play your youthful 
games here in its very shadow, for 
how many ages this same castle has 
been watching the play, not only 
of children, but of men and women 
grown ! ” 

“ Oh, won’t you tell us some- 
thing about those men and 
women ? ” cried the boy and girl 
together, and there was an eager 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


look in both their faces. All fear 
had vanished from Katrina, who 
whispered to her playmate: 

“ Canst thou guess, dear Fritz, 
whose voice it is that speaks ? ” 

The boy shook his head. 

“ No, and that is the mystery of 
it all. It seems as though the one 
who spoke stood close beside me, 
and yet, I look all about, and can 
see no human being but thyself. 
Art thou playing me some prank, 
little one ? But thou couldst not 
change thy sweet treble for deep 
bass.” And the boy laughed gaily 
at such a notion. 

“Yes, my children,” the voice 
continued, in those same melo- 
dious accents like the notes of 
a distant organ, “ I have seen 
many generations come and go. 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


Little has taken place here without 
my knowledge.” 

“ If you’d only tell us some of 
the wonderful things you’ve seen, 
we’d be so happy,” Katrina said. 

“ Where shall I begin ? ” and the 
voice took on a reminiscent tone. 

“ At the very beginning of it 
all,” and, as he spoke, Fritz drew 
nearer to Katrina. They were 
filled with a curiosity to hear what 
the strange voice might have to 
tell them. 

“Then you would have me to 
relate how the Wartburg came into 
existence? To do that, I must 
go back very far, — yes, even far 
beyond the time of my own pres- 
ence here. Well, if you will have 
it so, then follow the directions 
that I give you. Go, both of you, 


and study carefully that great stone 
pillar near the entrance yonder. 
Come back, and tell me what 
you find carved upon its double 
capital.” 

Hand in hand the children went. 
Then, after gazing long at the 
figure carved on the crumbling 
pillar, they returned and said: 

“It was the queerest-looking 
man with a long beard, and he 
seemed to be springing from a 
rock.” 

“Just so,” the voice replied. 
« The image you saw was that of 
the founder of this castle, and his 
name was Ludwig the Leaper.” 

“Ludwig the Leaper! ” Fritz ex- 
claimed. “ How did anybody ever 
come to have such a funny name 
as that ? ” 


13 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“It is exactly what I am about 
to tell you,” said the voice with 
some impatience; “do not inter- 
rupt me. You shall hear it all in 
time. It was in the year 1067,” 
the voice went on to say, “that 
Ludwig, while riding through the 
country, came upon this beautiful 
hill. He saw that it was a splen- 
did site on which to build a castle, 
and with joy exclaimed: 

“ ‘ W art Berg, du sol/st mir eine 
Berg werden .’ 1 

“ And very soon this stronghold 
was begun. A severe famine fell 
upon the land during the time the 
castle was being built, and every 
stone meant bread for the hungry 
poor who helped in its construc- 
tion. Some brought the rough 

1 w Wait Hill, thou shalt become my hold. ,, 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


stone from the quarry, while others 
cut it into blocks and got it ready 
for the builders. 

“ After living here in happiness 
for several years, Ludwig com- 
mitted a crime for which he was 
put in prison, and all of two 
years lay pining in an old fortress 
on the river Saale. But one day 
he made his escape by a bold leap 
into the river.” 

“Ah, so!” cried Fritz and Ka- 
trina, clapping their hands. “ Now 
we know why he was called Lud- 
wig the Leaper.” 

“Yes,” and, as the voice spoke, 
there was a low, rustling sound 
very much like laughter. “ So 
your curiosity has been appeased ! 
But after all, I must not chide you 
for being curious. Had it not 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


been for my desire to know things, 
I should not now possess the great- 
est of all treasures.” 

“ The greatest of all treasures ! 
I pray you tell us what the greatest 
treasure is ? ” 

But before the voice could an- 
swer Fritz’s query, some one called : 

“ Katrina, Katrina, come at 
once ! I need thee, child, to help 
me.” 

“Yes, mutterchen , I’ll come at 
once.” 

Fritz went with Katrina to the 
postern-door, where Frau Hofer 
stood, her white apron and a large 
iron spoon showing that she had 
been busy with preparations for 
their supper. 

“ Come in, Fritz, and break the 
evening bread with us; thou art 
16 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


always welcome at our little 
table.” 

There was a caress in Frau 
Hofer’s voice; she felt warmly for 
this motherless boy, the son of her 
girlhood’s dearest friend. 

“Thank thee, Tante Frieda, 
I can’t come in this time. It’s 
hard, though, to resist that odour of 
gingerbread,” Fritz added with a 
smile; “ but the father will come 
home to-night, and I must be there 
to greet him.” 

“ Thy father will be tired from 
his journey, so thou must have 
something hot for him when he 
comes.” 

“ Yes, old Gesta promised to 
make one of her famous stews for 
him, and I’ll get out a bottle of 
his favourite wine.” 

1 7 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ Did he sell all of his toys in 
Nuremberg? ” Frau Hofer asked. 

“ Yes, and he has orders for all 
that he can make between now 
and Christmas.” 

“ Then that means thou wilt 
have to turn toymaker in earnest 
now, and help him. Thou hast 
already had some training in the 
work. It would be good to walk 
along the street and see a sign that 
read ‘Conrad Albrecht and Son, 
Toymakers.’ ” 

Fritz made a wry face and 
shook his head. 

“ My tools and these fingers' 
would never be at peace. They 
were not intended for each other. 
Look at my hands, tante ; can’t 
you see that they are far too 
clumsy for such work ? ” 

18 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


And saying this, the boy held 
up his broad little palms and 
stretched his fingers wide apart. 

“ But,” he added with a smile, 
“ if my work-bench were only a 
ship, I’d sail away to distant lands ; 
then, if there were mountains in 
the way, I’d tunnel through them, 
and over the rivers I’d throw great 
bridges. And, maybe, when tired 
of all this,” he added, looking 
knowingly at Katrina, “ I’d get 
into my ship again, and sail away 
and away in search of the greatest 
of all treasures.” 

Frau Hofer raised a mocking 
forefinger and smiled : 

“ We’ll have to put an anchor 
on thy work-bench and hold thee, 
lad, or one of these fine days thou 
wilt really sail away and leave us.” 
19 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ Not while the father lives,” 
and Fritz’s dark eyes took on a 
serious look. “ But come ! ” he 
suddenly exclaimed ; “ I’m keeping 
you both out here, when there are 
many duties waiting for you in the 
home.” 

Then, with one of his frank 
smiles, the boy lifted his cap gal- 
lantly and turned away. 


20 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


III. 

EFORE Fritz left the 
courtyard, he stopped 
beside the bench where 
he and Katrina had been 
sitting. The hope was strong in 
him that he might hear the voice 
again ; for there was one question 
he wished to ask. And while he 
stood there, hoping to realize his 
wish, he watched the shadows as 
they crept over the mountains, 
then into the valley far below. 
Only faintly now could he discern 
the white pathway that wound over 
the nearest hill, then down into the 
Marienthal. 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


Suddenly, Fritz gave a start of 
pleasure; the voice was speaking 
in those same rich accents. 

“ So you are looking down 
there at the Singers’ Way. That 
is the name of the white path 
you see, glistening against the 
dark green background in the 
valley yonder.” 

“Yes, I know it well,” said 
Fritz. “ My father has taken Kat- 
rina and me to walk there very 
often. When we felt tired we’d 
rest on the Singers’ bench far away 
at the end, and father would tell 
us of the minstrels who used to 
sing at the castle long ago, — how, 
when weary with the journey, they, 
too, would stop and rest on that 
same seat.” 

“ But have you never seen the 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


splendid Minstrels’ Hall, where the 
bards who visited the Wartburg 
in the olden days would sing and 
play their harps ? ” 

« No, I have never been inside 
the castle. Katrina hasn’t been 
allowed to go, and I am waiting 
until we can visit it together.” 

“Ah, then you have yet to see 
the great hall where they held the 
famous minstrel contest, which has 
passed into song and story.” 

« I’d like truly to have you tell 
me about this contest,” was Fritz’s 
answer. “ Then when we visit 
the Minstrels’ Hall I can repeat the 
story to Katrina.” 

« Very well,” the voice re- 
sponded. “When you and your 
little friend enter the great room, 
you will see a slightly raised plat- 

23 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


form. This is called the ‘ bower,’ 
and it was here that the singers 
performed their parts when they 
came before the landgraves and 
their distinguished company. Now 
the famous contest of which I am 
about to tell you took place in the 
time of the good Landgrave Her- 
man. 

“At Herman’s court were a 
company of poets of good birth, 
the chief of whom were Wolfram 
of Eschenbach and Henry of Ofter- 
dingen. This Henry of Ofterdingen 
has figured in many a romantic 
story, and some have confused 
him with Tannhauser, another 
bard, who lived at a later date. 

“ Once upon a time,” the voice 
went on, “when the good Herman 
and his wife Sophia, with all their 

24 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


court, were gathered in the Min- 
strels’ Hall, the singers, one by one, 
recited the deeds of the Landgrave 
Herman. But when it came to 
the turn of Henry of Ofterdingen 
he sang praises to the Duke of 
Austria, and compared him with 
the shining sun. Thus begun, the 
contest waxed so fierce that it was 
agreed the conquered should be 
put to death. Only by foul play 
could the other minstrels worst 
Henry of Ofterdingen. He, see- 
ing their intentions, appealed to 
the Landgravine Sophia for protec- 
tion. Out of pity the noble prin- 
cess shielded him, but gave him 
his freedom on one condition only. 
He must go to Austria, and, in a 
year’s time, return, bringing with 
him as arbitrator the world-re- 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


nowned master of song, Klingsor 
of Hungary. 

“ Ofterdingen, glad to escape, 
hastened away to Austria, and 
sought the duke whom he had 
lauded in his songs. The latter 
received him graciously, and, be- 
sides enriching him with costly 
gifts, gave him a letter to Kling- 
sor, who dwelt in his splendid, 
but solitary, castle in the Seven 
Hills. 

“To the surprise of everyone, 
Henry of Ofterdingen, accompanied 
by Klingsor, appeared before the 
Wartburg at the appointed time. 
Now this Klingsor was an astrolo- 
ger, who professed to foretell events 
by reading them in the stars. And 
on the first night of his coming to 
the Wartburg, he was found seated 
a6 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


outside the castle, gazing atten- 
tively at the starry sky. On being 
asked why he sat looking at the 
heavens, Klingsor replied: 

“ ‘ Ye must know that this night 
a daughter is born to my master, 
King Andrew of Hungary. She 
will be called Elizabeth, and lead 
a saintly life ; furthermore, she is 
to be wedded to the young prince 
Ludwig, son of the Landgrave Her- 
man ; and the whole world, but 
especially Thuringia, will be blessed 
with her goodness.’ 

“The Landgrave Herman, to 
whom the news was carried, was 
filled with joy, and ordered that a 
great banquet be held in Kling- 
sor’s honour. Then the contest, 
the trial of skill, with Klingsor 
in the lead, began in earnest. It 
27 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


was not long until he succeeded 
in overcoming all the opponents of 
Ofterdingen with the exception of 
Wolfram of Eschenbach, — him 
he could not conquer.” 

At this point the voice ceased 
speaking, and Fritz waited for sev- 
eral moments, hoping it would 
resume the theme, but was disap- 
pointed. 

“ Why,” he asked at last, 
“ could not the mighty Klingsor 
conquer Wolfram of Eschenbach ? ” 

Still there was no answer. But 
after a time the voice went on to 
say: 

“As I told you and your com- 
panion, I have watched many gen- 
erations come and go. In fact, 
little has taken place here without 
my knowledge. I possess, as I 
28 



" It was the Ivy T^hich had spoken 


99 





















































































































































THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


have said before, the greatest of all 
treasures.” 

Then, all of a sudden, some- 
thing seemed to rivet Fritz’s gaze 
upon the rustling leaves of an old 
vine, which for centuries had hung 
upon the castle like a rich, green 
mantle, and, to his bewilderment, 
Fritz realized that it was the Ivy 
which had spoken. 

But what it meant by saying that 
it possessed the greatest treasure 
Fritz did not learn ; for when he 
asked the question, the only sound 
he heard was one that came up to 
him from out of the Marienthal — 
an echo of his own words, “ the 
greatest treasure.” 


29 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 



Then 


IV. 

AT RINA had followed 
her mother into the great, 
vaultlike hall on the 
ground floor of the castle, 
they crossed a narrow pas- 
sage, where a door stood open, and 
out of which came the odour of 
baking gingerbread that had tickled 
Fritz’s nostrils. 

Down here in one corner of 
the castle, on the side where the 
morning sun shone brightly, three 
rooms had been set apart as the 
dwelling-place of Rudolf Hofer, 
caretaker of the castle, his wife, and 
their only child. To them the 
3 ° 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


home was very dear, and these 
three rooms had for Rudolf many 
a sweet and sacred memory. It 
was there that his parents and 
grandparents, in fact, many gen- 
erations of his ancestors, had dwelt ; 
for, as far back as he could trace it, 
Rudolf found that a Hofer had 
kept the castle keys. 

It was to his good wife Frieda, 
with her refined taste, as well as 
thrift, that Rudolf gave full credit 
for the present cheerfulness of what 
might have been a very cold, for- 
bidding habitation. But, instead 
of dull lifelessness, every window- 
ledge was gay with potted plants, 
which gave out their treasured 
blossoms to the sunshine. While 
it was to Frieda’s, and even Ka- 
trina’s little hands, that the bright 
31 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


rows of tin and copper vessels, 
arranged along the kitchen walls, 
owed their glint and sparkle, when 
the firelight shone upon them. 

From her mother, Dame Frieda 
had inherited the domestic virtues 
of her class, and now, in her own 
turn, she desired to cultivate in 
Katrina, child though she was, a 
love for the household arts; for, 
as she would say : 

“ Thou’lt be a wife thyself, one 
day, my madchen , and it behoves 
thee to be a good one.” 

So Katrina had her regular daily 
tasks. In the morning she gave 
attention to her flowers and fed 
her flock of pigeons housed in the 
old South Tower. They would 
come down into the courtyard, 
when Katrina appeared with her 
32 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


pan of grain for their breakfast ; 
while some were even so trustful 
of their little mistress as to perch 
upon her shoulders, and eat the 
grain from her hand. Then, those 
tasks finished, Katrina would go 
into her own room, with its pretty 
but simple furnishings, its dainty 
white drapery, and set things in 
order there. Other duties followed 
this; sometimes it was to help her 
mother in the kitchen, or else she 
would take her knitting and sit out 
in the sunshine of the castle court. 

As soon as they came into the 
kitchen after leaving Fritz, Ka- 
trina’s mother began to busy her- 
self with her baking. 

“ Rudolf will be pleased with 
the gingerbread,” she murmured, 
as she opened the oven door 
33 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


whence came the savoury odours ; 
“ he is very fond of it, and it has 
been a long while since he has 
eaten any. Now,” continued 
Frieda aloud, as she turned and 
looked over her shoulder, “ thou, 
Katrina, canst set the table. The 
father will be coming soon ; he 
has had a busy day, and I know 
he will be very tired.” 

“Yes, little mother, there were 
many visitors to-day. I was at the 
gates when most of them came in. 
One of the ladies who stopped and 
spoke to me said something about 
my living in the same castle where 
the good Saint Elizabeth had lived. 
Did a saint ever live here, m'utter- 
chen P ” 

“Yes,” Frau Hofer answered, 
“we might say in truth that two 
34 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


saints have lived here at the Wart- 
burg; for surely Martin Luther 
also was a saint!” 

“ Oh, did he, did Martin Luther 
live here ? ” Katrina cried. “ I 
thought he lived in the Widow 
Cotta’s house at Eisenach.” 

“ Yes, he lived in both places 
for awhile. It was as a little 
schoolboy that he spent some time 
in Frau Cotta’s home. Here at 
the Wartburg, as a man, he dwelt 
in concealment for about a year, 
under the protection of the Elector 
Frederick. He was supposed to 
be a prisoner,” Frieda added, 
“ but he had the freedom of a 
guest. In his disguise as ‘ Squire 
George ’ he would roam about the 
country, sometimes gathering 
strawberries on the hill, sometimes 
35 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


visiting the neighbouring monas- 
teries, but he never went far unat- 
tended.” 

“ But why was he a prisoner, 
little mother? Thou hast just 
said the Elector was his friend.” 

“ It was necessary to conceal 
him from his enemies,” the mother 
answered. “ But wait, my child, 
until thou art a little older and 
canst understand ; then I will ex- 
plain the cause of his being made a 
prisoner. Here at the Wartburg,” 
she added, after a moment’s pause, 
“ he did a great work for man- 
kind. It was in his room over 
there in the Knight’s House, that 
Luther made his translation of the 
Bible.” 

Katrina’s eyes were wide with 
interest, but before she could ask 
36 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


other questions about Luther or 
Saint Elizabeth, the door opened, 
and her father came into the room. 
He kissed his wife and took Ka- 
trina in his strong arms, where, 
from a tiny child, she had loved to 
nestle. 

“ I’ll not let thee hold me long, 
father, only just a minute. Thou 
must surely be very tired ; thou 
hast shown so many through the 
castle. Dost thou remember the 
lady who stopped and spoke to 
me about Saint Elizabeth ? Such a 
beautiful light seemed to be shin- 
ing from her face.” 

“ Yes, I remember her very 
well,” Rudolf answered. “ She 
and the friends with her were 
Americans. I was told that she is 
the head of some noble order in 
37 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


her country ; but what it is, I 
couldn’t understand.” 

Katrina, in the meantime, had 
finished setting the table, which, 
though simple with its service of 
quaint blue china, was made attract- 
ive by a vase filled with crimson 
roses. She had gathered them that 
afternoon from a bush growing 
near the castle gates. So now, 
after Frieda had placed the dainty 
meal upon the table, they all 
stood for a moment, their heads 
bowed, while Rudolf asked a bless- 
ing on the food. 


38 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


V. 

S the three sat at table, 
Rudolf talked to his 
wife and Katrina about 
some of the happenings 
of the day. It was his custom to 
say little in regard to the castle, or 
the visitors who came there. For, 
as has been said before, both he 
and Frieda thought it better that 
their child should know the more 
practical things of life, so the ro- 
mance of the castle was hidden 
from her. 

This evening seemed to be an 
exception, though, and Rudolf 
talked more freely than he had 
39 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


ever done before, while Katrina 
asked him many questions. She 
wanted to hear more about the 
beautiful lady who had stopped and 
spoken to her of Saint Elizabeth. 

“ The very first place the lady 
wished to see,” her father said, in 
answer to her eager questions, 
“ was the Elizabethan Gallery, and 
she spent a long time gazing at 
the pictures. But,” he continued 
in a low tone, while it was evident 
that his feelings were greatly stirred, 
“ it was when she stood before the 
painting in which the holy Eliza- 
beth gives bread to the hungry 
poor that I noticed the same thing 
you spoke of, little daughter, — a 
strange, beautiful light seemed to 
be shining from the lady’s face.” 

Rudolf paused as the scene in 

40 


| THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


the Elizabethan Gallery rose again 
before him ; then as he was about 
to resume his story, all three were 
startled by some one knocking at 
the door. In answer to the sum- 
mons to enter, Fritz, all white and 
trembling, came into the room. 

“What is it, my boy?” Frieda 
and Rudolf both exclaimed ; for 
they saw instantly that he was the 
bearer of bad tidings. 

“ There’s been an awful wreck 
between here and Nuremberg. I 
heard the news as soon as I got 
down to Eisenach. The town is 
all excitement, for they say many 
have been killed or badly injured. 
Oh, my poor, poor father!” 

With that Fritz could say no 
more, but sank into a chair. Frieda 
poured out a glass of water and 
41 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH ( 


held it to his lips; then wetting 
her handkerchief, she gently bathed 
his aching temples, while little 
Katrina walked over to where he 
sat, and took her playmate by the 
hand. 

“ But,” said Rudolf, reassuringly, 
“thou art by no means certain thy 
father has been injured; so take 
courage ! Still, even if thou 
shouldst find that he has suffered 
with the others, thou must be very 
brave and help him bear it. But 
come, b’iibchen , let us not tarry. 
I’ll go down with thee right away.” 

As the two hurried down the 
mountain road they could see 
the city lights far below them. 
The houses themselves were invisi- 
ble, having melted into the gray 
of the long German twilight. 

42 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


On drawing near the town, Fritz, 
spurred by his great anxiety, broke 
into a run, and Rudolf had not 
the heart to check him. In the 
streets they found much confusion ; 
people were hurrying to and fro. 
The most of them, however, were 
making their way to the station, 
and it was there that Fritz, fol- 
lowed by Rudolf, turned his steps. 
Suddenly he caught sight of one of 
his young friends and called to him. 

« Do you know who was hurt, 
Heinrich ?” 

The boy stopped for a moment 
and stared at Fritz. 

“ Why, haven’t you heard that 
Count von Scholtz and his Excel- 
lency the Mayor have been badly 
knocked up, maybe killed ? There 
have been others, too, they say.” 

43 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ Who were the others ? ” Fritz 
exclaimed. 

“ I don’t know,” Heinrich an- 
swered. fl Those were the most 
important ones ; I haven’t heard 
who the others were.” 

But already Fritz had hurried 
on ; and it was but a moment 
now, until he and Rudolf had 
reached the station, where a crowd 
had gathered. 

To Fritz the moments of their 
waiting seemed hours long. But 
at last some one gave the signal 
that the train was coming, and all 
listened with keen attention, while 
they crowded even closer to the 
gates. 

Presently a succession of low 
whistles could be plainly heard ; 
then a few moments later the 


44 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


relief train, with its weight of hu- 
man suffering, steamed slowly into 
view. Fritz felt his breath coming 
in quick gasps. Those were anx- 
ious moments that he had to wait. 

“Take heart, my boy,” Rudolf 
whispered. 

By this time the injured were 
being lifted carefully from the dif- 
ferent coaches, and laid upon the 
waiting cots. But in the uncertain 
light shed by the station lamps, it 
was hard to distinguish any one, 
the lights flickered so and cast long 
shadows across the ground. 

Suddenly, a murmur went up 
from the crowd as a stretcher, 
borne by four men, was carried 
by. 

“ There’s Count von Scholtz ! ” 
many persons were heard to say. 

45 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


But Fritz gave no heed to this. 
He was gazing at a tall figure just 
behind the cot on which lay the 
injured nobleman, and with a cry 
of “Father!” would have broken 
through the line of guards, who 
stood ready to check the surging 
crowd, but they held him back. 
So he and Rudolf could only 
wait. 

Now the cot bearing the Count 
von Scholtz was lifted to an ambu- 
lance ; but before the doors were 
closed, one of the attendants, wear- 
ing the Geneva cross upon his arm, 
turned and whispered something to 
Conrad Albrecht. The toymaker, 
in response, went and stood upon 
the iron step while the injured man 
evidently spoke to him, for Fritz 
saw that his father made 

46 


some 


I THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


reply. Then the ambulance doors 
were shut, and the wheels began to 
grate slowly on the road. 

Conrad Albrecht began to make 
his way through the crowd, and as 
he came forward it could now be 
plainly seen that both hands were 
wrapped in linen bandages, — those 
useful hands, which for many years 
had furnished happiness to little 
children far and near ; for few 
were so skilled as he in making 
toys. And to see those helpless 
hands smote Fritz and Rudolf to 
the heart. 


47 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


VI. 

HE next morning Katrina, 
in a blue cotton frock, 
her golden hair curled 
prettily, stood at the en- 
trance to the castle. She was 
waiting there to see the lady who 
had spoken to her of Saint Eliza- 
beth. Her father said the lady 
had told him she would come. In 
the child’s hands was a bunch of 
crimson roses gathered from the 
bush just outside the gates. 

Katrina had not been there 
long when she heard the sound of 
wheels, and, looking down, she 
saw a carriage in which were two 

48 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


ladies and a gentleman, being 
driven slowly up the Wartburg 
hill. One of the ladies was she for 
whom Katrina had stood waiting, 
and the little girl felt her heart 
beat faster and faster, as she saw 
the three visitors step from the car- 
riage and make their way up to- 
ward the castle. 

“ Ah, you are here again, my 
dear,” the lady said, as she came 
upon Katrina standing at the gate. 
“ I am very glad to see you, but 
we shall not be satisfied to-day to 
leave you outside ; you must come 
into the castle with us.” 

But at that moment Katrina’s 
thoughts were upon her roses, and 
the purpose for which they had 
been gathered. 

“ These are for you, gnadige 
49 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


frau ,” Katrina said, her voice 
trembling with a sudden childish 
fear, and she held out her lovely 
crimson offering toward the lady. 

“ The roses of Saint Elizabeth I ” 
the lady murmured, as she took 
them in her hand. “ How beauti- 
ful they are, and how good you 
are, my child, to give them to me.” 

Again Katrina caught the name 
“Saint Elizabeth”; but why the 
lady should have called them “ the 
roses of Saint Elizabeth ” Katrina 
did not understand. 

“You must come with me to 
the Elizabethan Gallery,” the lady 
went on to say. “ I want to show 
you the pictures there. You will see 
these same beautiful crimson roses 
and learn a lesson from them.” 

“ Won’t you please tell me what 
5 ° 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH j 


the lesson is ? ” asked Katrina, very 
softly. 

The lady looked into the great 
searching eyes and answered : 
“ They will teach you that under 
the power of love, or goodness, 
even the simplest, homeliest thing 
may be transformed, that is to say 
changed, into a thing of beauty. 
This picture of which I speak 
represents Elizabeth on her errands 
of mercy. She is carrying a basket 
of food to the poor of Eisenach 
when her husband meets her on 
the way. He wishes to know what 
she carries in her basket, and lifts 
the top to see. On looking in he 
beholds, not bread, with which she 
had started on her way, but exqui- 
site and fragrant crimson roses,— 
such roses, my dear, as these.” 

5 1 


) THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


With this the speaker stooped 
and kissed Katrina on the forehead ; 
while at the same moment the 
child caught sight of a small, silver 
Maltese cross shining on the lady’s 
breast. 

“ Now, Katrina, we must not 
keep the others waiting. Come 
with me; I want my good friends 
over here to know such a dear 
little castle maiden.” Whereupon 
the lady led the way to where her 
two companions stood. Both Mrs. 
Shaler and her son, when Katrina 
was introduced, and made them a 
quaint and pretty curtsy, showed 
much pleasure; while the former 
whispered something about the 
dear, old-fashioned child. To the 
little girl’s delight, she found that 
all three of her new acquaintances 
52 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


spoke her own language well. 
They had spent several years in 
Germany, and Mr. Robert Shaler 
had only lately taken a degree at 
Leipsic. 

“ You will go with us, won’t 
you, dear? Your father will be 
willing, I am sure.” The lady, as 
she spoke, looked questioningly to- 
ward Rudolf, who, with a bunch 
of keys swinging in his hand, had 
just come out to meet them and 
show them through the castle. 

“ But Fritz ! ” the child pro- 
tested as her father, having given 
his consent, selected one of the 
keys, with which he unlocked the 
iron gates. 

“ Who is Fritz ? ” the lady 
asked. 

“ He’s my comrade,” replied 
53 


| THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


Katrina ; “ and he has waited a 
long, long time to see the castle. 
He’s had so many chances; but he 
said he wouldn’t go inside until I 
could see it with him. What 
would he think if I should go 
without him ! ” 

“ Then, if you and Fritz have 
agreed to go together, you must 
surely carry out your promise ; so 
we will take him with us.” 

“ But Fritz isn’t here,” and 
there was a look of distress in the 
child’s usually sunny face. “ He 
lives down there in Eisenach.” 

At this point Robert Shaler 
offered a suggestion; he would go 
in the carriage and bring Fritz 
back with him. 

“ If it wouldn’t put you to any 
inconvenience,” Rudolf said, “ I 
5 4 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


might drive down and get the lad 
myself. I would like to ask how 
his father is; he was injured yester- 
day in a wreck. Here, Hans, take 
my place,” and Rudolf, the visi- 
tors having assented readily to his 
wish, handed the bunch of keys to 
a young assistant who had come in 
answer to his signal. 

“ But,” said Katrina’s friend, 
“ we prefer to wait until you return 
with Fritz; for we must all go 
in together. Katrina shall have 
her wish.” 

“ We can entertain ourselves out 
here in the courtyard,” Mrs. Shaler 
said, after Rudolf had driven off; 
“ there is almost as much to inter- 
est one outside as inside these 
ancient strongholds.” 

Then after looking at the old 
55 


I THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


drawbridge, and other relics of 
that feudal past, they all sat down 
upon the outer wall to enjoy the 
beautiful panorama far below them. 


5 6 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 



VII. 

fOBERT SHALER was the 
first to break the silence. 

“ There is but one re- 
quest I have to make,” 
he said, as he knocked the ashes 
from his cigar. 

“ What is it, Robert ? One re- 
quest is very moderate indeed ; 
isn’t that so, Emily ? ” 

As she spoke Katrina’s friend 
turned to Mrs. Shaler with a smile. 

“ It is that you and mother will 
promise not to spend the whole 
time in the Elizabethan Gallery, 
but will allow me to see just one 
other room.” In the young man’s 
57 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


gray eyes was the suspicion of a 
twinkle, even in spite of the ear- 
nestness of his wish. 

“ And what room do you want 
to see, my son ? ” 

“ I want to see the one in which 
Martin Luther stayed.” 

At this Katrina gave a little start. 
She recalled what her mother had 
told her only the night before 
about Martin Luther having been 
a prisoner at the Wartburg. How 
much she, too, would love to see 
that room ! 

“ Yes, Robert, we must surely 
see it,” said Katrina’s friend. “ No 
pilgrim to the Wartburg would 
ever be satisfied to go away with- 
out a visit to that room where the 
great Reformer accomplished some 
of his grandest work for mankind.” 

58 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


And as she spoke, the lady, under 
some sudden impulse, laid her 
white hand upon the little silver 
cross she wore. 

“ There is a question I have 
sometimes asked myself,” said Rob- 
ert Shaler, “ and have never been 
able to answer to my satisfaction; 
so I will put it to you and mother. 
Which of all the influences brought 
to bear on Luther’s life seems to 
you to have been the strongest? 
In other words, which did the 
most in directing him toward the 
path he chose ? ” 

« I should say,” Mrs. Shaler an- 
swered, “ that it was the fact of his 
being born of such good and honest 
parents as were Hans and Margaret 
Luther. No,” she added, after a 
moment of reflection, “ it must 
59 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


have been when his dear friend 
Alexis, as they walked one day in 
the woods together, and were over- 
taken by a storm, was struck by a 
bolt of lightning and fell dead be- 
side him. It was a bitter grief to 
Martin Luther, and the event is 
said by some to have changed the 
whole current of his life.” 

“ It seems to me,” said Katrina’s 
friend in her gentle, yet forceful 
way, and again her hand sought the 
little silver cross, — “it seems to me 
that it might be traced to the day 
when, in searching through the 
library of his university, Luther 
found a Bible, opened it, and, for 
the first time, read the Book of 
Samuel. In those days, my dear,” 
she said in explanation to Katrina, 
“ even students were permitted to 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


read only certain portions of the 
Scriptures. This story of how the 
boy Samuel had been taken to 
the Temple by his mother, and 
dedicated to the service of the 
Lord, impressed him very deeply. 
Then there took root within his 
own ardent nature a purpose that 
was steadfast — to know the way 
of life from God’s sacred Word 
itself. And was not this, after all, 
the message that he left us ? ” 

Katrina had been listening with 
keen attention ; she remembered 
what Fritz had told her about the 
Cotta house at Eisenach. As their 
talk of the previous evening all 
came back to her — how she had 
wondered if it had not been the 
Widow Cotta’s kindness that had 
helped to make Luther great, 
61 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


Katrina made up her mind to ask 
the question now. But even though 
her heart beat faster at the very 
thought of speaking, the little girl 
was about to do so when the lady 
took up the thread again and con- 
tinued in her same sweet tone. 

“To be sure, outside influences 
must affect one very deeply, but it 
seems to me that the true greatness 
of a soul must come from within 
that soul itself.” 

As she spoke the lady looked 
down at Katrina, and saw the 
puzzled look in the childish face. 

“ Take this flower, for example,” 
and, saying this, she held up one 
of the fragrant crimson roses. “ It 
is true beyond all question that the 
plant which bore this needed mois- 
ture, air, and sunshine, as well as 
62 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


the soil in which it grew — each at 
its very best, — but even back of 
all this does there not stand the 
fact that this exquisite flowering of 
the plant is the fulfilment of its 
own deep inner nature? Have you 
ever thought that it is through no 
outside influence that the rose 
becomes the rose, and the lily 
becomes the lily? Under such 
help a rose may be a better rose, 
or a lily a better lily ; but each 
develops out of its own peculiar 
inner nature.” 

Katrina tried hard to understand 
all that the lady said; and even 
though she could not then grasp it 
fully, she was later to come into a 
complete possession of its meaning. 
At that moment there was the 
sound of footsteps, and, looking 

63 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


down, Katrina saw her father com- 
ing toward them. 

“Fritz could not come;” was 
Rudolf’s answer to her eager ques- 
tion. 


“ My friend,” he said, in ex- 
planation to the others, and with 
evident distress, “ was found to 
have been more seriously injured 
than the doctors thought at first. 
He is suffering intensely, and Fritz 
will not leave his father’s bedside. ” 
“ But you must come, anyway, 
Katrina,” said Mrs. Shaler, after 
they had all expressed their sym- 
pathy. “ Another time you and 
Fritz can have your visit to the 
castle.” 


“ No,” Katrina said, “ I told 
Fritz I would go with him, and I 
must keep my promise.” 

64 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ You are right, my child,” said 
Katrina’s friend, stooping to kiss 
her brow, before she turned toward 
the entrance with the others. “ A 
promise is a very sacred thing.” 


65 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


VIII. 

f ATRINA watched the little 
party as they went in at the 
great door leading to the 
entrance hall. And her 
friend, just before she disappeared 
from view, having turned, had seen 
Katrina standing out there in the 
sunshine of the court and had waved 
a farewell to the child. Then the 
door closed with a heavy sound and 
the little one realized she was all 
alone. A strange lump rose in her 
throat and her blue eyes filled with 
tears; but she knew that to have 
kept her promise was the right thing 
66 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


to have done, so, throwing back her 
head, she laughed away the desire 
to cry. 

Some impulse seemed to turn 
her steps down toward the castle 
gates. She walked across the court, 
past the bench where she and Fritz 
had sat together, on beyond the 
Knight’s House with its memories 
of Martin Luther, until she reached 
the rosebush — the same bush 
from which she had gathered the 
crimson blossoms for the lady. 

In her disappointment — for it 
was indeed a disappointment not 
to see, after all, the castle of her 
dreams — Katrina felt a longing for 
friendly sympathy, and something 
seemed to tell her that she would 
find it here. So, after choosing a 
shady spot, the child sat down in 
6 7 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


the soft grass, the breath of roses 
all about her, and some of the 
velvet petals touching her cheek 
like a gentle caress. 

“ I’ll love you more than I ever 
did before,” Katrina whispered, as 
she bent even closer to the blos- 
soms. “ The lady called you ‘ the 
roses of Saint Elizabeth,’ and she 
told me that in the castle I would 
see a picture of Saint Elizabeth 
carrying roses just like you to the 
poor, sick people. My dear mutter- 
chen told me about her, too ; she 
said she was so beautiful and good, 
and that she lived in this same 
castle where we are living now. 
Oh,” Katrina added with a sigh, 
“ if I only knew more about her I’d 
be so glad! ” 

“ Little friend,” whispered a low, 
68 



€( 


The breath of roses all about her 


yy 






























* 


































































































































































































THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


sweet voice close to Katrina’s ear, 
“ I can tell you a great deal about 
Elizabeth, and I am glad that you 
wish to know her story.” 

Katrina, startled and surprised, 
looked all about her; but not a 
person could she see. 

“Oh,” she said as the thought 
came to her, “it must be the same 
voice that spoke to Fritz and me 
last evening.” 

Yet, even as she said it, Katrina 
could not but feel that they were 
not the same. That voice had 
been deep and full and rich; this 
was as soft and as sweet as the 
tenderest notes of a harp. 

“You do not know, my little 
friend, that it is the Breath, or 
Spirit of the Rose that is speaking 
to you. Now hearken, and I will 
69 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


tell you something about Saint 
Elizabeth, and her life of loving 
service. 

“ Once upon a time,” the Rose 
began, “there lived here at the 
Wartburg a Landgrave by the name 
of Herman. Now Herman, who 
was a good man, ruled his people 
well, and they loved him very 
dearly. Known far and wide as a 
patron of learning and the arts, 
especially of music, wise men, 
poets, and musicians were frequent 
visitors at his court. It was from 
some of these he had learned that 
to King Andrew of Hungary and 
his wife, Queen Gertrude, had been 
given a little daughter, and her 
birth had brought great blessings 
in its train. For, as was told of 
her, in the year she was born, wars 
70 


$ THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


in her country had ceased, the 
harvests were never so bountiful, 
and all evil seemed in great meas- 
ure to disappear from the land. 
Not only was she good, but so 
unusual was her beauty that all 
rejoiced at sight of her. 

“On hearing these things about 
the little girl it is said that Her- 
man exclaimed: ‘Would to God 
that this fair child might become 
the wife of my son Ludwig ! ’ 

“ In a short time,” the Rose 
continued, “ Herman sent ambas- 
sadors to the King of Hungary to 
ask for the little princess for his 
son, and it is said that King 
Andrew received them royally. 
All were laden with gifts, and when 
they returned, bringing the little 
princess, it required over a dozen 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


wagons to convey the priceless 
treasures which King Andrew sent 
to the Landgrave and his wife 
Sophia. There were beautiful jewels 
and richly embroidered stuffs from 
the Orient, besides many other 
things of value. On the tiny Eliza- 
beth her father had bestowed a 
cradle and a bath of pure silver, 
most strangely and beautifully 
wrought; also robes of finest tex- 
ture exquisitely embroidered in 
gold, and several noble women of 
the court to serve as her attendants. 

“ On her arrival at the Wartburg, 
the little princess met with great 
rejoicing, and on the following day 
was betrothed to Prince Ludwig 
with solemn ceremony. From the 
first moment the two children 
seemed to love each other, and 
72 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


every one predicted for them a 
happy and blessed marriage. Even 
as a tiny child Elizabeth gave 
strong evidence of her goodness, 
charity, and compassion for the 
suffering. To the little children 
round about, she gave away food 
and clothes and toys — the poor of 
Eisenach soon became her special 
care. 

“ Two years after Ludwig was 
created a knight down there in St. 
George’s Church, he and Elizabeth 
were married. Three days of feast- 
ing followed their wedding, then 
the young couple went to make a 
visit at the court of Elizabeth’s 
father in Hungary. Ludwig was 
then in his twentieth year and Eliza- 
beth was just fifteen. He was tall 
and fair ; while she possessed the 
73 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


richer, darker beauty of her race 
and country. 

“ Her life, even then, was one 
of pure unselfishness, and she seemed 
to have no fancy for the glitter of 
the court. She preferred to live 
in the simplest manner possible, 
and, often exchanging her apparel 
for that of the plainest sort, would 
go on her errands of mercy among 
the sick and the poor. 

“One day, however, when Lud- 
wig was entertaining some royal 
guests, he requested Elizabeth to 
attire herself <as became his wife 
and the lady of his love.’ So she, 
obedient to his wish, called her 
maids about her, and let them 
clothe her in her royal robes — 
‘ her tunic of green and gold tissue, 
her tiara confining her dark tresses, 
74 



“ She beheld 


a wretched beggar, shivering with cold 














































* 







































THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


and over her shoulders her embroid- 
ered mantle lined with ermine.’ 

“ Arrayed in this rich apparel, 
Elizabeth was about to cross one 
of the open courts when she be- 
held prostrate on the pavement a 
wretched beggar, shivering with 
cold and weakened by disease and 
hunger. She paused, and, obedient 
to her divine impulse which had 
ever gone out to the suffering, she 
removed from her shoulders her 
royal mantle and laid it upon the 
shivering beggar. Then she retired 
to her own apartment, wondering 
how she could excuse herself to 
her husband. At that moment 
Ludwig himself came in, and throw- 
ing herself into his arms, Elizabeth 
confessed what she had done. 

« While her husband stood irres- 
75 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


olute,” the Rose went on to say, 
“ for he did not know whether to 
praise or blame her for the deed, 
her maid Gunta came into the 
chamber, the royal mantle on her 
arm. 

“ * Madam,’ she said, ‘ in passing 
the wardrobe I found this hanging 
in its place. Why has your High- 
ness disarrayed yourself? ’ And 
once more she clasped the royal 
mantle on the shoulders of her 
mistress. 

“ Then Ludwig and Elizabeth 
went forth, their hearts overflowing 
with’ gratitude and wonder. And 
when Elizabeth appeared before 
the guests, they arose and stood 
amazed at her beauty, which had 
never been so dazzling, < for a glory 
that was more than human seemed 
76 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


to play around her form and the 
jewels on her mantle sparkled with 
a celestial light.’ 

“Again, one day,” the sweet 
voice continued, “when Elizabeth 
was ministering to her poor at 
Eisenach, she found a little child 
cast out by the rest because he was 
a leper, and for this reason none 
would touch him or even come 
into his presence. She, moved with 
pity, took the loathsome little body 
in her arms, carried him up the 
steep hill to the castle, and laid him 
on her bed. All who were in the 
apartment hurried away, and re- 
proaches were heaped upon her. 
Ludwig was absent at the time ; 
but soon his horn was heard outside 
these gates, and hastening to him, 
his mother, the Princess Sophia, 
77 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


told him what Elizabeth had done. 
The husband, impatient on hearing 
that his wife had taken in her bed 
a little, leprous child, rushed into 
the room and snatched away the 
coverlid. ‘ But behold, instead 
of the leper there lay a radiant 
infant with the features of the new- 
born Babe in Bethlehem ; and while 
they stood amazed, the vision smiled 
and vanished from their sight.’ 

“This miracle,” the soft, harp- 
like voice went on to say, “ is one 
of the most beautiful of the many 
legends of Saint Elizabeth, and re- 
calls those sacred words: ‘Inas- 
much as ye have done it to the 
least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me.’” 

With the breath of roses all 
about her, and the velvet petals so 
78 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


near that she could touch them, the 
child had listened eagerly to these 
stories of Saint Elizabeth. Then 
when the Rose fell silent there came 
to Katrina’s mind those words which 
the lady had spoken but a little 
while before. She recalled how, 
holding up a blossom, her friend 
had said that it was beautiful 
because deep down in its own inner 
nature there was a beauty which 
the flower but obeyed. And now, 
as this thought wove itself like a 
thread of gold through those stories 
of Elizabeth and her life of love, 
Katrina began to understand what 
her friend had meant. 


79 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


IX. 

LTHOUGH Conrad Al- 
brecht’s hands had been 
painfully and even seriously 
burned, they had at first 
given promise of healing; but as 
the days, then the weeks, went by, 
the doctor began to look very 
grave. Another physician was called 
in consultation, and he too was 
serious ; it was a case of blood 
poison, they said. 

When his father had to remain 
in bed, Fritz would not leave the 
room. He was always ready to 
attend his father’s slightest wish. 
Neighbours came in every day and 
80 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


offered to help the boy ; he did not 
lack friendly sympathy or service. 
Rudolf, Frieda, and Katrina came 
down from the castle daily, and on 
every visit Katrina brought a bunch 
of her crimson roses. For hours 
at a time the sick man’s eyes would 
rest tenderly upon the blossoms, 
and they were always placed near 
enough for him to enjoy their 
fragrance. It came about, as the 
days went by, that he began to 
look eagerly for Katrina and her 
roses; this was the one bright spot 
amid dark, suffering hours. 

At other times his eyes would 
wander wistfully to the adjoining 
room — his workshop. Here, hang- 
ing upon the walls, and scattered 
upon his work-bench, were un- 
finished toys, waiting for the hands 
81 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


which had begun to fashion them 
with such loving care. For Con- 
rad Albrecht was one to whom his 
work was a constant source of hap- 
piness; he rejoiced in the creations 
of his hands. The machine had 
not come in to rob him of his own 
individual skill and take away his 
joy in working. His imagination, 
too, had had full play. While his 
hands were busily employed, some- 
times with a girl’s dainty doll, 
sometimes with a boy’s small steam- 
engine, perfect in every detail, he 
would picture the homes and the 
lives of the children who would 
one day have the toys in their pos- 
session, often tracing their lives to 
womanhood and manhood. So 
Conrad Albrecht’s days had passed 
happily enough, and he had been 
82 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


enriched by the blessing of con- 
tentment. 

One morning as he lay on his 
bed of pain, Fritz’s father had 
turned his eyes from Katrina’s roses, 
and for a long while they had 
rested sadly on his work-bench with 
the half-finished toys lying on it. 
As he lay there looking into that 
other room, he was thinking how 
much comfort it would give him 
if Fritz would one day finish those 
uncompleted toys; he had come 
to realize that the task had been 
taken out of his own hands for ever. 
Fritz, sitting at the bedside, no- 
ticed the look in his father’s eyes, 
and half-guessed its meaning; but 
before either could speak, there 
came a rap on the outer door. 

Fritz went at once to answer it, 
83 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


and, to his surprise, he saw the tall, 
imposing figure of Count von 
Scholtz standing on the threshold. 
The boy’s amazement made him 
speechless for a moment. Only a 
month or so before he had seen 
the nobleman, badly injured, borne 
upon a stretcher. 

“ Are you the son of Conrad 
Albrecht ? ” the visitor asked on 
seeing Fritz. 

“Yes, your Honour, Fritz Al- 
brecht is my name.” 

“ I am glad to know you, my 
boy, glad to know Conrad Al- 
brecht’s son. Is it possible for me 
to see your father? I have some- 
thing of importance that I wish to 
say to him.” 

“ My father is very ill, your 
Honour, and suffering great pain.” 

84 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ I know that, my lad, and it 
grieves me deeply; but,” he con- 
tinued, as he laid his hand on 
Fritz’s shoulder, “I want especially 
to see him. This is my first ap- 
pearance outside the house, and 
my doctors objected to my coming. 
I told them, though, that I would 
make this visit to Conrad Albrecht, 
cost me what it might.” 

By this time they had reached 
the door of the sick-room, and 
Fritz went in first to prepare his 
father for the unexpected visitor. 

“ Ah, Albrecht, I am distressed 
to see you like this; they tell me 
you have suffered horribly.” And 
as he spoke, the nobleman seated 
himself in a chair which Fritz 
placed for him beside the bed. 

“Yes, your Honour, I’ve had 
85 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


much pain. At first I thought all 
would be right with me in time ; 
but now I realize that the end is 
near ; for the doctors can give me 
little hope.” 

“Too bad, too bad; ” the count 
shook his head sadly, and Fritz 
saw that his eyes were full of tears. 
“ I would give anything I possess, 
Albrecht, if it could only save you ; 
and to think that I was the cause 
of this ! ” 

Fritz, who had been a silent 
witness of the scene, was dismayed. 
How could Count von Scholtz 
have caused his father’s accident ? 
At that moment, as though read- 
ing the question in Fritz’s mind, 
the count turned and said : 

“ My lad, do you know that 
your father saved my life ? ” 

86 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ No, your Honour,” Fritz re- 
plied; “my father didn’t tell 
me.” 

“Well, then, I will tell you. In 
the wreck, the compartment I was 
occupying had taken fire, and 
when I found myself wedged in 
between some burning timbers, and 
•escape seemed a thing impossible, 
I resigned myself to die. Then it 
was that your father, himself badly 
shaken by the accident, saw me 
pinned under the pile of debris; 
and, without one thought for his 
own safety, tore away the heavy 
timbers already in a blaze. By 
this time others, seeing the situa- 
tion, came to our relief; but it 
was not until your father’s hands 
had been badly burned.” 

« I was glad, your Honour, to 
87 


| THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH | 


be able to assist you,” said Conrad 
Albrecht, feebly. 

“ Yes, my friend, but to save my 
life you gave your own ; that is 
heaven’s own great gift. But, Al- 
brecht, I wish to do the best I can 
to prove my gratitude. I have no 
son, and have come here to ask if 
you will let me take your place 
to Fritz when you are gone. I 
couldn’t be to him what you have 
been, but grant me this wish, and 
I will try and fill a father’s place. 
By adoption he shall be my son. 
Can you, will you, say yes to this, 
Albrecht ? ” 

The look which had come into 
the face of the stricken man re- 
flected the conflict in his heart. 
Two paths were open for his boy,, 
and he, the father, must decide 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


upon the one for him to take. 
Here, at the work-bench, where 
he had spent many contented years, 
he saw the quiet, shaded path of 
that more tranquil life. Out there 
was the glare, the white light of 
the world, — would his boy be 
happy in it? Would it bring him 
peace, such peace as he, himself, 
had known and loved ? Yet, here 
was a great, even a wonderful, 
opportunity; one day his Fritz’s 
name might be known throughout 
all the Fatherland! 

This thought brought a radiant 
look to the father’s eyes, and with 
all the strength at his command he 
said : 

“ Yes, your Honour, Fritz shall 
be your son.” 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


X. 



URN the key, Gesta, and 
let the workshop stay 
just as my father left it.” 

The old woman wiped 
her eyes on a corner of 


her apron. 

“ And so it’s sure, then, Master 
Fritz, that you’re going to leave 
here ; what will the house seem 
like when you are gone ? ” 

With this the faithful creature 
broke into a sob. 

“ But,” said the boy, soothingly, 
“ I’ll come back every little while 
and see that you want for nothing. 
Because I’m going to live in a great 
90 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


house and have lots of money given 
to me doesn’t mean that I am go- 
ing to forget you. I am my 
mother’s son, Gesta ; you carried 
my mother in your arms when she 
was a little baby. She loved you, 
and so do I.” 

“You’ve always been good to 
me, Master Fritz. Even when you 
were a very little boy you never 
gave me any trouble ; and that 
makes it all the harder to see you 
go. Is it to-morrow, Master Fritz, 
that Count von Scholtz is going to 
send for you ? ” 

“ No, the count said he knew I 
would want to see my friends, and 
make some preparations, so it’s not 
till Thursday that I leave for Griin- 
wald. But it isn’t so far away, you 
know, Gesta, that I can’t come 
9 1 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


back from time to time to see you 
and the dear old home. For even 
if they do say I’ll walk on velvet 
carpets, and have beautiful paint- 
ings and marble statuary to look 
at everywhere I turn my eyes, more 
books than I can read, and music 
whenever I wish, I’ll never love it 
as I love this home. They may 
change my name, too, but I’ll 
always be the son of Conrad Al- 
brecht, the toymaker. The count 
may be ever so good to me, but he 
can never take my father’s place ! ” 
Yet, even as he spoke, Fritz was 
conscious of a strange sensation. 
He had felt it only once before, and 
that was the evening he had re- 
mained outside the castle, after 
Katrina had gone in, and listened 
to the Ivy. 


92 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH | 


Now there came to him the de- 
sire to hear that voice again, and, 
as twilight was just setting in, he 
would go alone, and beg the Ivy 
to tell him other stories of the cas- 
tle. So after urging the watchful 
Gesta not to be uneasy if he should 
return a little late, Fritz started 
off in the direction of the Wart- 
burg. 

It was not very long before he 
reached the courtyard, where all 
was still, and, stealing within the 
shadow of the wall, Fritz seated 
himself upon the same bench on 
which he had sat that other evening 
when the voice had spoken to him 
of the “greatest treasure.” 

One might suppose that the Ivy 
had been waiting for him, so soon 
did it begin to speak to Fritz in 
93 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


those same rich, majestic tones. 
And now it told him many things 
about the men and women who 
lived in the castle long ago — about 
the early landgraves ; but more 
particularly did it dwell upon the 
good Herman and his time. Among 
other stories it told how Elizabeth 
had, by accident, found on her hus- 
band the crusader’s cross, and at 
sight of it had fainted, since it meant 
that he would leave her. 

“ But,” the Ivy said, “ when 
Ludwig explained to her the pur- 
pose of the crusades, Elizabeth not 
only consented to his going, but 
went with him a part way on his 
journey. However, Ludwig never 
reached the Holy Land, but died 
of a fever just as he was to set sail 
from Italy.” 


94 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


This was the only allusion which 
the Ivy made to Saint Elizabeth; 
but it told Fritz of much that 
happened during the times in which 
she lived. It mentioned, for in- 
stance, how a knowledge of the 
arts and crafts had been brought 
by the crusaders from the East. 

“ There were no glass windows 
in the Wartburg,” the Ivy said, 
“until the time of the Landgrave 
Herman. He had glass panes put 
into the windows of the banquet- 
hall; but in the other windows the 
panes were all of mica; for glass, 
the art of making which was 
brought by the crusaders from the 
Orient, was very rare and costly. 

“ Now, while speaking of the 
East,” the Ivy went on to say, “ I 
must tell you something about a 
95 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


certain great room in the Wartburg 
called the Armory. There you 
will find some rare specimens of 
old plate armour and suits of mail 
— these latter dating as far back as 
the crusades. One who gives it 
any thought can trace from these 
a gradual unfoldment in the his- 
tory of armour. For instance, 
that of the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries was crude and very 
simple. The fifteenth century 
brought an increase in the use 
of plates; but it was in the six- 
teenth century, by a well-devised 
fitting together, that the highest 
development in armour was at- 
tained.” 

Fritz found himself listening with 
keen interest to all that the Ivy told 
him ; and, after a pause, it went 
96 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


on speaking of the armour and its 

“ Persons usually have a wrong 
conception of the armour worn in 
the twelfth and thirteenth centu- 
ries,” the voice continued. “ They 
picture the knight as going forth 
in a glittering mail shirt woven 
out of steel; while in reality his 
coat and hose, as well as his head- 
covering, were of leather with iron 
rings sewn on. Only in the East 
did they then understand the art 
of weaving the steel mail shirt out 
of rings. But as every separate 
ring had to be made by hand, such 
equipment was very costly; for 
wire drawing was not discovered 
until the fourteenth century. 

“ I wonder,” said the Ivy, after 
a moment’s silence, and so suddenly 
97 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


that Fritz was startled, “ I wonder 
if you can tell me why the use of 
armour began to decline in the 
seventeenth century ? ” 

“ I am sorry to say that I haven’t 
the slightest idea,” was Fritz’s 
answer. 

“ It was because in that century 
firearms came into general use, 
gunpowder having been invented ; 
so there was no longer any need 
for armour.” 

But, interested as he was in hear- 
ing all of this, it was not what 
Fritz had come to the castle for 
that evening. He had come to put 
to the Ivy one single question 
which for weeks had been revolving 
in his mind. 

“ I am going away from here 
next Thursday,” as he spoke Fritz 

98 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


drew nearer to the Ivy, “ and I 
want to ask one question before I 
go. It is that you will tell me 
what you meant when you said to 
me one evening that you possess 
the greatest of all treasures.” 

Several moments passed before the 
Ivy answered; but at last it said: 

“ I know your desire is a sincere 
one, and I intend to grant it. But 
first promise me that you will 
search far and wide, until you, too, 
come into possession of this mighty 
treasure — the greatest in all the 
world.” 

“ I promise you,” said Fritz. 

“ Well, then,” and the Ivy spoke 
in tones more melodious than any 
Fritz had ever heard before, but so 
low that he alone could hear the 


name. tore. 


99 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


The boy caught his breath with 
eagerness, and clenched his hands 
until the flesh showed the imprint 
of his nails. 

“ Yes,” he declared, his face all 
aglow with determination, “ I’ll go 
to the very ends of the earth to find 
it ! ” 

Then all at once Fritz seemed 
to see, as though it were a picture 
stretching out before him, that new 
life he was about to enter with its 
promise of riches, the opportunity 
to gratify all ambition — while the 
name of what the Ivy declared to 
be the greatest treasure kept ring- 
ing like music in his ears. 


IOO 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH ( 


XI. 

HE following morning 
Fritz went early to the 
Wartburg. This, his last 
day, he would spend with 
his little playmate. Some time be- 
fore he reached the castle, as he 
was walking up the hill, he caught 
sight of Katrina standing in the 
courtyard. 

She made a lovely picture 
dressed in white, with her pigeons 
all about her; while in the back- 
ground was the old, ivy-covered 
wall. Back and forth her pets were 
swarming; some ate the grain she 
xoi 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


had just scattered on the ground, 
while others preened themselves 
upon the brink of the now dilapi- 
dated fountain. 

But as Fritz drew near, and his 
footsteps sounded on the gravel, 
there was a scurry and a rustle of 
wings ; while very soon the birds 
were lost to sight in their lofty 
retreat in the tower. Katrina, 
however, the moment she spied 
Fritz coming, gave a little cry of 
pleasure, and ran to the gates to 
meet him. 

“ I was sure that thou wouldst 
come,” she said, “ and dost thou 
know, Fritz, I could declare I 
heard thee walking here last eve- 
ning, I know thy step so well. 
But,” the little girl added, as she 
took her playmate by the hand, 
102 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ mutterchen said it was only fancy, 
that of course you wouldn’t be 
here at the castle without coming 
in to see us. I knew that too, 
Fritz ; so though I thought I heard 
thee passing the window twice, I 
laughed at the very thought of thy 
going by just as if thou wert a 
ghost.” 

To this Fritz said not a word. 
For some reason he felt that he 
wished to keep as a secret that 
which the Ivy told him ; so, in 
consequence, would say nothing 
about his twilight visit to the 
Wartburg. 

“ Fritz, Fritz ! ” Katrina suddenly 
exclaimed, and it seemed as though 
a cloud had passed suddenly across 
the sun, so quick was the change 
in Katrina’s face. “ Is it true that 
103 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


thou art really going to leave to- 
morrow ? ” 

“ Yes, Katrina, the count has 
written that he will send for me 
Thursday morning. Thou knowest 
the promise my father made him. 
But at first the count was too ill 
to send for me ; in fact it was only 
the other day he was told of my 
father’s death.” 

There were tears in Katrina’s 
eyes. 

“What am I going to do, Fritz ? 
I sha’n’t have any one at all to play 
with. Dost thou really want to go 
away and leave me ? ” 

“ No, no, little sister ; but some- 
times it falls to our lot to do things 
that we don’t quite wish to do. 
Thou knowest what duty is, Ka- 
trina?” 

104 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ Yes,” replied the little girl, 
“ mutterchen has told me that I 
must always do my duty, no mat- 
ter how disagreeable the task may 
be.” 

As she spoke, there came into 
the sweet childish face the promise 
of a nobility that would know so 
well how to translate duty into 
happiness; while, as for Fritz, he 
was one day to learn that ambition 
sometimes appears at our gates dis- 
guised as duty, and in our blind- 
ness we bid him enter. 

“ Is thy father here, Katrina ? ” 
Fritz asked a moment later. “Ah, 
yes,” he added before Katrina had 
time to answer, “ there he is, over 
near the belfry; he and Hans are 
talking.” 

“So thou hast come, Fritz, to 
105 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


claim the promise I made thee yes- 
terday in Eisenach ; ” and, as he 
spoke, Rudolf came over to where 
the children stood. “I told thee, 
I remember, that as thou art going 
away so soon, I would give thee 
and the madchen here a glimpse into 
the castle.” 

Both Fritz and Katrina were 
delighted, and the latter, catching 
one of her father’s hands, kissed it 
rapturously. 

“It will have to be only a little 
visit, though, as I’ll be very busy 
later in the morning, so where shall 
we begin ? ” 

“ This is to be your treat, Herr 
Rudolf,” Fritz replied; “so we’ll 
leave the choice to you.” 

“ Well, then, suppose we begin 
out here with the rooms where 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


Martin Luther stayed when he was 
a prisoner at the Wartburg.” 

“ Yes, yes, show us Luther’s 
rooms ! ” and the two children took 
Rudolf by either hand. 

He led them across the court- 
yard, past the old stables now con- 
verted into a brewery; on beyond 
the barbican, the south tower, and 
the belfry, until they reached the 
Knight’s House, sacred with its 
memories and traditions of Martin 
Luther. 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


XII. 

T was here,” Rudolf ex- 
plained, when they had 
reached the entrance 
to the Knight’s House, 
“ that the great Reformer was kept 
in captivity for a year.” 

“Yes,” Katrina interposed, “ mut - 
terchen told me this, and so did the 
lady with the silver cross ; but they 
didn’t tell me why he was made a 
prisoner.” 

“ That was because he opposed 
certain teachings of his time, and, ” 
her father added, forcefully, “ had 
the courage to be steadfast to what 
he believed to be the truth.” 

108 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ It would be good, Herr Ru- 
dolf,” suggested Fritz, “ if you 
would tell Katrina and me the 
story of Martin Luther before we 
go inside the castle. Then when 
we do go in, we’d understand and 
enjoy it all the more.” 

“Yes, Fritz, thou art right; 
some knowledge of him would 
make thee have a more intelligent 
appreciation of what thou art about 
to see. So, suppose we sit out 
here while I tell thee both about 
a few of the incidents in Luther’s 
life.” 

Whereupon, Rudolf and the two 
children seated themselves on a 
stone bench close by the door of 
entrance. Now just above this 
same door was a device cut in 
stone, that was not only quaint and 
109 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


curious, but was also strangely 
suggestive of the giant power of 
the man who had once been a 
prisoner there. It represented Sam- 
son in the act of quelling the lion. 
And had not he, Martin Luther, 
slain mankind’s deadly foe, — blind 
superstition ? 

“ Well, to begin with,” said Ru- 
dolf, when the children had settled 
themselves to listen, and sat watch- 
ing him with expectant eyes, “ Mar- 
tin Luther’s father, whose name 
was Hans Luther, was a miner at 
Mora, a small town which now 
belongs to the Duchy of Saxe- 
Meiningen. Not very long after his 
marriage, however, Hans and his 
wife, Margaret, went to live at 
Eisleben, and it was here, on the 
ioth of November, 1483, that a 
no 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


son was born to them. This day 
being the anniversary of Martin, 
Bishop of Tours, they gave the 
name ‘ Martin ’ to their boy in 
memory of the saint. 

“ It was soon after this that 
Luther’s parents removed to Mans- 
field, and Hans, the father, became 
a member of the council. Their 
great desire was that Martin should 
follow one of the learned profes- 
sions, and from the first his educa- 
tion was very strict. He attended 
the school of the Franciscan monks 
at Magdeburg; but when about 
fifteen years old, he came to 
Eisenach and earned money as a 
Current-Schuler by singing from 
door to door.” 

“ Yes, yes, dear father,” Ka- 
trina interrupted, “we know how 
hi 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


the good Frau Cotta, hearing him 
sing in the streets, took him in and 
gave him a home.” 

“ Did he like being a Current- 
Schuler?” asked Fritz, to whose 
spirit of adventure the idea made 
a strong appeal. 

“ It is said,” responded Rudolf, 
“ that the practice of singing for 
charity was at first very distasteful 
to him, but that in time he came 
to like it, so great was his love for 
music. Thou, my little Katrina, 
art familiar with some of Martin 
Luther’s hymns. He wrote a 
number of hymns after he grew to 
manhood; and thou, Fritz, hast 
sung with us many an evening that 
grand old anthem of his, ‘ Ein feste 
Burg ist unser Gott.’ 


1 “ A Mighty Stronghold Is Our God.” 
1 1 2 


| THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


“I wonder, Herr Rudolf,” Fritz 
exclaimed, as the light of the 
sudden thought flashed into his 
face, “ I wonder if Luther wrote 
that hymn here at the Wartburg! 
Don’t you think he must have 
done so ? ” 

For a moment Rudolf was 
silent. This was a question which 
had not presented itself to his mind 
before. 

“ I really do not know it to be 
a certainty,” he answered after 
thinking deeply ; “ but it does 

seem to me, Fritz, that he must 
have had his inspiration here within 
these walls which sheltered him in 
a time when his life was being 
threatened. But now,” Rudolf 
continued, “ let us turn back to 
the youthful Luther and follow 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


him as he progresses in his school 
life. In the year 1501 he en- 
tered the University of Erfurt, where 
he studied Logic, Physics, and 
Ethics; but it was in Philosophy 
and the ancient classics that he 
afterward found his greatest satis- 
faction. In the year 1503 Luther 
received his degree of B. A., and it 
was then that he complied with his 
father’s wish and began to study 
the law. This, however, as he soon 
found, was not to his taste, and in 
time it became a burden to him. 
In these days of doubt he felt 
strongly drawn toward a monastic 
life, and finally, in spite of the 
opposition of his family and friends, 
he determined to take the vows 
and become a monk. 

“ But even after this step had 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


been taken, he found that his con- 
science was not wholly at ease. His 
zealous mind seemed to be ever 
searching for the truth. And, my 
children,” Rudolf continued, “ it 
was in the year 1517 that Martin 
Luther first wrote his name indeli- 
bly on the pages of history.” 


”5 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


XIII. 

ES,” Rudolf repeated, “ it 
was in the year 1517 
that Luther cut his way 
through the darkness of 
superstition, and let in a light which 
has illumined the world. For by 
showing how false were the teach- 
ings that forgiveness of sin could be 
bought with a bit of money, in- 
stead of through repentance and 
reform, he set, not only a respon- 
sibility, but a noble value upon 
each individual life. It was his 
mighty voice, ringing through all 
the land, and whose echo can be 
heard down the ages, which urged 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


man to realize that he was a child 
of God, and through that sonship 
alone an inheritor of the kingdom. 

“ These teachings of Martin Lu- 
ther met with harsh opposition ; 
but he was firm in his belief. So 
firm was he that he nailed to the 
door of the church in Wittenberg 
his ninety-five theses, or articles of 
faith. These were read by people 
of every rank in life, and the fame 
of them spread far and wide. While 
his friends flocked to him, those 
who opposed Luther became more 
and more bitter, until finally they 
even sought his life.” 

“ It was then, wasn’t it,” cried 
Fritz, with eager interest, “ that the 
Elector showed that he was his 
friend ? ” 

“Yes,” said Rudolf in reply, “ it 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH | 


was when his life became endan- 
gered that the Elector Frederick, 
under pretext of taking him a 
prisoner, had him brought here to 
the Wartburg, where he could give 
him his protection. And now since 
we have reached the experience in 
Luther’s life which is so closely 
associated with this place, suppose 
we make our visit to the rooms he 
occupied.” 

Rudolf, as he spoke, rose from 
the bench, and, bidding the chil- 
dren to follow, opened the door 
into a little hall, and from this they 
ascended a narrow staircase. 

“ Here, my children,” said Ru- 
dolf, as he now led the way into a 
small room at the head of the stair- 
way, “ this was Luther’s sanctuary.” 

A sort of awe fell upon Fritz 
1 18 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


and Katrina at the thought of 
being in the same apartment where 
that great, good man had spent the 
months of his captivity. 

“ This,” Rudolf explained, as he 
pointed toward a table, “ is not the 
one at which Luther sat when he 
made his translation of the Bible ; 
that was carried away years ago by 
relic hunters, who gradually cut it 
into chips. The one here now was 
once in his father’s house at Mora, 
and Luther sat at it when a little 


boy.” 

Fritz and Katrina, full of inter- 
est, gazed up at the portraits of 
Luther and his parents hanging on 
the wall above the table, while 
Rudolf explained that they were 
the work of Cranach, one of the 
greatest painters of his time. He 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


also called their attention to one 
of Luther’s letters which had been 
framed, and was hanging near the 
Cranach portraits. Then the chil- 
dren were told to look at a curious 
mining-lamp once used by Luther’s 
father. But it was when Rudolf 
showed them the money box 
carried about by the little Current- 
Schuler down in Eisenach that 
their enthusiasm seemed to have 
no bounds. 

“Just let us touch it, father,, 
dear ! ” Katrina cried. 

And they both laid their hands 
lovingly on the treasured relic. 

“Just think,” said Fritz, as he 
held it for a moment in his hand, 
“it was in this very box that he 
got the money for his school- 
ing.” 


120 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ Now,” said Rudolf, as he 
moved over to a large chest under- 
neath the window, “ if you will 
both come close, I’ll open this and 
show you a collection of the first 
editions of the Bible according to 
the translation made by Luther. 
Here, my children,” and as he 
spoke, Rudolf put a volume into 
the hands of each, “ hold this sacred 
book, and as you do so, realize 
that it is your privilege to have had 
within your clasp one of the great- 
est gifts ever bestowed upon man- 
kind. For before Luther made his 
translation, which even the simplest 
peasant could read, as it was writ- 
ten in the language of the people, 
the Bible was as a locked treasure- 
house to which only the few had 
a key.” 


iai 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“ How thankful we should be to 
him ! ” Katrina said. 

“ Yes, my liebchen ,” replied her 
father, tenderly, “ only think what 
it means to be able to go each day 
to this sacred Book and learn from 
it the way of life.” 

Fritz had been silent for several 
moments ; it was evident that he 
was turning some thought over in 
his mind. 

“ Wasn’t Martin Luther’s wis- 
dom very great, Herr Rudolf? ” he 
asked at last. 

“That it was, Fritz; but why 
dost thou ask the question ? ” 

“ I was just thinking that it 
must be a great thing to be very 
wise, in fact the greatest thing in 
the world. I’m going to study and 
learn all that I possibly can; then 
122 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


some day people will point to me 
and say: ‘What a wise man Fritz 
Albrecht is ! ’ ” 

As the three stood looking out 
of one of the quaint windows 
with its round, leaded panes, at 
the beautiful landscape below, it 
seemed to Fritz that he heard the 
Ivy’s rich voice saying to him: 
“ Search, search, for the greatest of 
all treasures ! ” But suddenly it 
was as though the whole room 
were filled with the breath of 
roses; and Katrina’s heart re- 
sponded to a soft voice down by 
the castle gates which said almost 
in a whisper: 

“ Luther possessed something 
that was even greater than his 
wisdom ; Saint Elizabeth possessed 
it, too.” 


123 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


And there also seemed to rise 
before Katrina’s vision an image 
of the lady with the little silver 
cross. 


124 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


XIV. 

« IFTEEN years have now 
gone by since Fritz and 
Katrina paid their visit to 
the Wartburg and heard 
among others the story of Martin 
Luther. To Fritz, especially, they 
had been restless years. 

From the day when he bade 
farewell to his old home and the 
friends up at the castle to go and 
live at Griinwald, Fritz had been 
able to gratify every wish. In fact, 
with a fortune at his command, he 
had in full measure the privileges 
of a rich man’s son. The count, 
being ambitious for him, had, until 
125 


! THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


his death, been always ready to 
satisfy Fritz’s every want; but it 
was with a peculiar fervour that the 
nobleman urged Fritz toward the 
satisfaction of that one great crav- 
ing of his life — the desire for wis- 
dom. It was a desire which never 
gave Fritz any rest, and seemed 
only to increase in keenness as it 
was fed. 

After having gone to a prepara- 
tory school, Fritz entered the uni- 
versity, from which he bore away 
distinguished honours ; and the 
years that followed were spent in 
travel. To the very ends of the 
earth he went in search of that 
treasure which from his boyhood he 
had determined to discover. Some- 
times reports would reach his 
friends at Eisenach of wonderful 
126 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


researches made by him in Egypt 
and the Holy Land among the 
buried relics of an ancient gran- 
deur. As a traveller and a scholar, 
his fame soon spread abroad, and, 
even surpassing his father’s cherished 
wish, the name of Fritz Albrecht 
came to be known far beyond the 
fatherland. 

In the first years after he went 
to live at Griinwald, Fritz had 
come back very often to see his 
friends at the Wartburg. On these 
occasions he would stop at Eisenach 
and have Gesta to open the old 
home that he might see how things 
were going there. Then when he 
went away, he would always press 
a gold piece into Gesta’s withered 
palm, and beg her to deny herself 
no comfort. Unable to speak, the 
127 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


good creature could only sob her 
gratitude. But as the years went 
by, and his life took on other and 
larger possibilities, those simpler 
interests receded to the back- 
ground ; until, finally, Katrina real- 
ized that her old playmate had 
passed on and away from her. 

In comparison with Fritz’s life 
Katrina’s life may have seemed even 
commonplace. There was the 
same daily round of simple duties 
within the home; but they were 
duties lovingly performed. To Ka- 
trina’s education, though, as she 
went through the years of girlhood, 
much care was given, and in this, 
her friend with the silver cross had 
no little part. For not only had 
letters come often from over the 
sea to the “ castlemaiden,” as the 
128 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


lady called her still, but from time 
to time there had also come boxes 
containing books for her to read 
and ponder. And from these 
books, as well as from the letters, 
Katrina had gleaned many an in- 
spiration for her life. 

But it was from yet another 
source that Katrina gained ideals 
which were even nobler and better 
still — and that was from the Rose- 
bush growing near the castle gates. 
H ere she would bring her work, 
or a book, and sit during many a 
cherished hour, while she listened 
to the stories of noble men and 
women or felt its silent sympathy. 
And when at times vain longings 
would fill her heart for a life that 
was less narrow, or more glittering, 
than her own, she would also come 
129 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


to seek comfort from the Rose- 
bush, and it always soothed her. 

Then how often, too, as the 
days went by, could Katrina, her 
hands filled with the fragrant crim- 
son blossoms, be seen on her way 
down to Eisenach to some one 
who was ill or in distress. In fact, 
so many were her deeds of loving- 
kindness that the people there in 
the shadow, as it were, of the old 
castle which had once known the 
saintly presence had come to call 
her their Saint Elizabeth. At the 
very sight of her, every one felt a 
sense of joy ; for not only did they 
realize the beauty of her character, 
but in face and form as well she 
seemed to grow more beautiful 
every day. 

“ Our Katrina will not stay in 
130 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


the home nest very long, I fear,” 
said Frieda one evening, as she and 
Rudolf talked together. 

But the years went by, and 
Katrina showed no disposition to 
encourage any who would have 
rejoiced to be her suitor. Her 
every thought seemed to be for 
others rather than herself, and each 
day was marked by some unselfish 
service. 

In all that she accomplished 
there was one purpose which 
seemed ever uppermost with Ka- 
trina, — it was to awaken in the 
dreary or sordid toiler the heart of 
joy. Many a time after she had 
left the shop of some humble crafts- 
man, with a few appreciative or 
buoyant words, he might be heard 
singing as he worked with lighter 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


heart and swifter hands. So when 
a fair, or exhibition, of the differ- 
ent industries became an annual 
feature in the little town, Ka- 
trina was one of the most zealous 
workers for its success. In order 
to arouse an interest, prizes were 
offered for the best results in the 
different lines, and the competition 
was always keen ; while it brought 
together a wonderful array of 
effort. 

People came from a distance of 
many miles to visit the fair, or 
market, as they called it. A value 
had been set upon even the hum- 
blest hand-work, and that was an 
incentive to better things. 

It was in the month of June 
that the building which had been 
erected in the market-place began 
132 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


to take on an air of bustle and 
activity. Never had there been so 
many visitors in Eisenach, and 
never had the little town seemed 
half so prosperous. The fair was 
at the height of its success, when 
one day there came in for exhibi- 
tion a case of toys, such toys as 
few of the present generation had 
ever seen in Eisenach. Many had 
gathered about the booth to see 
this new exhibit, when a lady, who 
had just been handed from a 
stately coach by an attendant, was 
heard to say: 

“ They must have been the work 
of Conrad Albrecht. I am glad to 
find them here. Whenever I made 
a visit to the Fatherland, years ago, 
I used to buy his toys and take 
them to my children; but until 
i33 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH I 


now I had supposed he did not 
make them any more. These will 
delight my grandchildren.” 

And saying this, the speaker 
selected a number of the playthings, 
which were taken to her carriage; 
while those standing near looked 
on with interest. They recognized 
this benevolent-looking woman, so 
simple, yet' impressing her dignity 
on all within her presence, as no 
less a personage than England’s 
Queen. Though far removed, Vic- 
toria still loved her Fatherland, 
often returning to the old home 
not many miles from Eisenach, and 
it was in those visits that she had 
come to know the work of Conrad 
Albrecht’s hands. 

All who had seen them declared 
that these toys which gave evidence 
134 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


of unusual skill were plainly en- 
titled to the prize, whereupon 
search was made for the one who 
sent them. Only three of the five 
judges were made aware of the 
name of the exhibitor to whom 
the prize was given, and they were 
bound to secrecy. 

“ Who was the maker of these 
toys ? ” 

This was the question asked on 
every side, and the answer came 
that they must be the work of 
some one elsewhere; for Eisenach, 
they said, had known only one who 
could have made such toys, and he, 
Conrad Albrecht, had been dead 
for fifteen years. 


i35 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


XV. 

OST thou know the 
news, Katrina ? ’Tis said 
that Fritz has returned 
to Griinwald.” 

Katrina, who was engaged with 
some bit of sewing, looked up sud- 
denly as her father spoke, and said: 

“ H e was far away, I know, 
when Count von Scholtz, his foster- 
father, died, and it must have taken 
him a long while to make the 
journey.” 

“Yes,” was Rudolf’s answer, 
“ it is said that he was somewhere 
in the very heart of Asia and was 
obliged to make a long overland 

136 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


journey before he could reach a 
railroad, to say nothing of the time 
he spent upon the sea.” 

“ Has Fritz ever given his dis- 
coveries to the world ? that is, has 
he put them to any use, so that 
others might be benefited by his 
knowledge ? ” asked the thrifty 
Frieda, who had become even more 
practical with the passing years. 

“ That I have never heard,” 
responded Rudolf. “ But it is said 
that as a scholar his name is widely 
known ; for one so young, his rep- 
utation for wisdom is without 
a parallel.” 

“ A reservoir without an outlet 
is not a very useful thing,” was 
Frieda’s only comment. 

“ Ah, mutterchen , speak not so 
of Fritz; thou knowest not what 
i37 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


may have been the motive that 
impelled him ! ” and as Katrina 
spoke a faint flush mounted in her 
cheeks. 

“ I do not speak unlovingly,” 
was Frieda’s answer. “ I still have 
a tender feeling for the son of 
Lizette and Conrad Albrecht, even 
though it would seem that as a 
man he has forgotten us.” 

Katrina had no more to say. 
She felt the truth of her mother’s 
words. Through the years as they 
passed, she had often experienced 
a sense of pain in the thought that 
her old playmate had seemingly 
lost all remembrance of their happy 
and united childhood. 

It was late in the same after- 
noon that Katrina sat in her be- 
loved haunt by the Rose-bush. 

138 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


She had been reading, but as the 
sun began to set amid a splendid 
radiance, Katrina closed her book 
and fell into a reverie. Something, 
perhaps the soft yet vivid colours 
of the sunset, recalled to her mind 
an evening long ago, when she 
and Fritz had sat upon the bench 
there in the courtyard, and lis- 
tened to the strange, melodious 
voice which had told them stories 
of the castle. And even as her 
thoughts dwelt upon these memo- 
ries of their youthful days, she 
heard a sound of footsteps coming 
up the Wartburg hill. 

Katrina’s heart beat fast, but she 
did not stir. How often as a child 
had she run gladly forth at the 
sound of steps so strangely like 
these coming now. But that had 
139 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


been the light, impatient step of a 
boy ; while this was the heavier and 
firmer tread of a man. 

Yes, even at the sight of a tall, 
manly figure, Katrina, who now 
lifted her blue eyes timidly, showed 
no surprise. He had drawn quite 
near, so near that he must surely 
see her. 

In another moment he was there 
in the grass beside her, the breath 
of roses all around. For a time 
both of them seemed strangely 
silent; there was too much to say 
after the interval of years. 


140 


I THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


XVI. 

T last he spoke, and she 
made no protest against 
his using the “ thou ” of 
their childhood days. It 
seemed but yesterday since they 
had talked together. 

“ Thou art little changed, Ka- 
trina, save that thou hast grown to 
be a woman.” 

“ I have lived such a quiet life,” 
she answered, “ too quiet to have 
left its traces.” 

“ Thou hast lived a beautiful 
life,” he said. “ Have I not heard 
how it has gone out in gracious, 



THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


loving deeds until hundreds adore 
thy very name ! ” 

A deep flush mounted in Ka- 
trina’s cheeks. 

“ But thou, Fritz, hast done and 
seen wonderful things. Even in 
our seclusion word has reached us 
of thy vast knowledge. It must 
be splendid to be known far and 
near as one who possesses such 
great wisdom.” 

“ Ah, Katrina, what have I not 
sacrificed in that search ! Home, 
friends, those I held closest to my 
heart, — all were put aside in my 
eagerness to find the greatest treas- 
ure. But thou dost not know, 
Katrina, what was the impulse that 
sent me forth.” 

At this Katrina shook her head. 

“ Dost thou not remember the 


142 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


‘voice’ which used to tell us stories 
of the castle ? ” 

“Yes;” and as she answered, 
the woman’s face glowed with the 
memories of childhood. 

“ Well,” said Fritz, his eyes 
meeting her astonished gaze, “ I 
never told thee this ; it was a secret 
I carried with me. One evening 
I came alone, and sat here in the 
courtyard, for I wished to try and 
discover something.” 

“ I know, I know,” she inter- 
posed, “it was one evening when 
I felt sure I heard thy footstep on 
the gravel.” 

“ Yes,” Fritz answered smiling, 
“ and thou didst say next morning 
that it must have been a ghost. 
Not only did I wish to hear the 
voice again, but I felt a keen desire 
H3 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


to ask what it meant by the great- 
est of all treasures. And it was 
then that I discovered it to be the 
Ivy speaking, — yes, that old vine 
yonder on the wall. In answer to 
my query, it assured me that of all 
the treasures of the world knowl- 
edge is the greatest. From that 
moment I was consumed with one 
overwhelming purpose, — the de- 
termination to search until I found 
the greatest treasure .” 

“ And thou hast had thy wish 
fulfilled,” Katrina said. 

“Yea, but as I have said, at 
what a sacrifice ! Its possession has 
not brought me happiness, and I 
have come back a disappointed, 
discouraged man. Thou wilt 
doubtless be surprised, Katrina, 
when I tell thee that the only real 

144 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


happiness I have known in many 
years was only lately when, out of 
love for my father’s memory, I com- 
pleted some of the toys which his 
hands had left unfinished. On 
reaching Griinwald I learned that 
a fair was soon to take place at 
Eisenach, and I knew what pride 
he would have felt to have his toys 
displayed ; so I came to the old 
home, and for many, many days I 
hardly left his work-bench.” 

“ So,” exclaimed Katrina with 
amazement, “ it was thou who sent 
that anonymous exhibit to the fair ! ” 
“Yes,” Fritz answered, smiling, 
“ and thou canst not guess, Ka- 
trina, what became of the money 
won in prizes ? ” 

Katrina, puzzled, shook her 
head. 


i45 


THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


“It is the nucleus of a fund with 
which I intend to endow a school 
where poor but ambitious boys can 
be provided, not only with an 
education, but also with a home, 
and it shall be dedicated to the 
memory of Martin Luther.” 

As Fritz looked into Katrina’s 
face he saw a beauty that seemed 
not of earth. He drew her hand 
close within his own, and long, long 
they sat there by the Rose-bush. 

“ Yea, Katrina, I have searched 
in all the wide world for the great- 
est treasure.” 

“ And yet thou sayest thou hast 
not found it, Fritz ? ” 

As he answered Fritz’s face 
seemed full of light, “ I have found 
it, my own Katrina ; but not out 
there in the world. Vain were 

I46 



u 


Long the y sat there by the Rose-bush 


yy 
















THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 


my searchings there. It is here, 
within ; so close, so close.” 

The castle had almost faded 
now, and the ivy looked strange 
and ghostly in the gathering gloom. 
A soft mist crept up from the val- 
ley, then the moon came to its 
throne in the sky. Still Fritz and 
Katrina sat there, hand clasped in 
hand; while over and about them, 
as though in benediction, there 
came a wonderful delicate fra- 
grance — -the breath, as it were, of 
a beautiful, living soul. Then they 
heard the Roses of Saint Elizabeth 
saying gently : “ But the greatest 

of these is Love.” 

THE END. 


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